“Each period [in history] lays its own meaning on the image. Each photograph already has a context which signifies. Since the photographs discussed here were taken, the position of Black people in Britain has been constructed in new, often more challenging, ways. Of course, a sense of history is not confined to the past. But it does require a sort of delicate excavation, an archaeology, tracing the contradictory impression which previous discourses have left in the iconography of popular memory.” – Reconstruction Work: Stuart Hall on Images of Post War Black Settlement (1984)
How do we critically engage with historical images today? What can they tell us about our shared present, about the political and cultural shifts which have occurred since?
Tuesday 5 November, 6:30-8pm
The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Book Now
Professor Stuart Hall left us with many tools through which to confront the present, which necessitate grounding ourselves within the varied and complex histories that constitute a specific moment in time.
In this reading group, we collectively discuss the 2006 essay Modernity and Its Others: Three ‘Moments’ in the Post-War History of the Black Diaspora Arts and the 1984 article Reconstruction Work: Stuart Hall on Images of Post War Black Settlement. The latter was published in the Black Image issue of Ten.8 Magazine, the history of which is addressed in the current exhibition Ten.8 in Focus: The legacies of Black Image and Body Politics at The Photographers’ Gallery presented in collaboration with International Curators Forum. It is within the context of this exhibition that we will collectively revisit these two texts by Stuart Hall.
Modernity and Its Others considers how to write the histories of non-Western societies in relation to modernity. The three ‘moments’ that Hall explores in this essay are the ‘Last colonials’ who are born in 1920s-30s (a generation which Hall is a part of), the first generation of British-born diasporic artists from 1950s-70s, and a third undisclosed ‘moment’, which we will consider together.
Written 22 years prior to Modernity and Its Others, in Reconstruction Work Hall looks at a moment of historical rupture – the beginning of mass migration from the colonies to the metropole, London. He recognises the role of photography in the documentation of these journeys and the societal shifts that accompanied them. His provocations and warnings about such “explosive little ‘documents’” will help us consider how we might engage with such records through our work today.
The Shifting the Centre reading groups aim to open up a space for collective study to consider the ways in which critical texts can act as important analytical tools for addressing the urgent political realities we are currently navigating.
Those who register for this reading group will be sent the texts via email, in a read-only format.
The reading group is a collaboration between International Curators Forum, Stuart Hall Foundation and The Photographers’ Gallery.
__________________________________________________
About the Ten.8 in Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics exhibition
This exhibition celebrates the renowned photography journal Ten.8 and its wider influence. It brings into focus two editions of Ten.8, Black Image (1984) and Body Politics (1987), by activating this rich history through text, design and archival material. Using these two issues as a departure point, this exhibition aims to open up a wider conversation about the legacy of Ten.8 and its exploration of the photographic medium.
Ten.8 In Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics offers a snapshot of the dynamic and multifaceted ways in which Ten.8 explored ideas around power, representation, race and photography. This examination of the journals demonstrates how pivotal and ahead of its time Ten.8 was during the 1980s and considers the ongoing relevance of these texts and images.
The exhibition is a collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery and ICF and is curated by Ten.8 editors Derek Bishton and Darryl Georgiou. Exhibition design is by Darryl Daley.
The exhibition runs from 9 October 2024 to 23 February 2025.
Read More
About the Shifting the Centre project
Shifting the Centre is International Curators Forum’s archival activation project dedicated to excavating the radical observations, emancipatory dreams, and revolutionary practices of anticolonial thinkers to develop counter approaches by asking: what kinds of ideas emerge when those resisting dominant forces are the protagonists of world history?
The project explores connections between seemingly unrelated events, people, issues and objects as a way of rejecting a single vantage point from which to understand, tell and mobilise histories. Ultimately, the project advances a curatorial approach that seeks to widen all that dominant forces attempt to narrow: our vision, imagination, and the political possibilities available to us. Shifting the Centre forms part of ICF’s Systems Reclaimed project, which aims to create a platform for creative practitioners to highlight and interrogate specific manifestations of systemic inequality both within and beyond the arts.
Read MoreProject:
“Each period [in history] lays its own meaning on the image. Each photograph already has a context which signifies. Since the photographs discussed here were taken, the position of Black people in Britain has been constructed in new, often more challenging, ways. Of course, a sense of history is not confined to the past. But it does require a sort of delicate excavation, an archaeology, tracing the contradictory impression which previous discourses have left in the iconography of popular memory.” – Reconstruction Work: Stuart Hall on Images of Post War Black Settlement (1984)
How do we critically engage with historical images today? What can they tell us about our shared present, about the political and cultural shifts which have occurred since?
Tuesday 5 November, 6:30-8pm
The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Book Now
Professor Stuart Hall left us with many tools through which to confront the present, which necessitate grounding ourselves within the varied and complex histories that constitute a specific moment in time.
In this reading group, we collectively discuss the 2006 essay Modernity and Its Others: Three ‘Moments’ in the Post-War History of the Black Diaspora Arts and the 1984 article Reconstruction Work: Stuart Hall on Images of Post War Black Settlement. The latter was published in the Black Image issue of Ten.8 Magazine, the history of which is addressed in the current exhibition Ten.8 in Focus: The legacies of Black Image and Body Politics at The Photographers’ Gallery presented in collaboration with International Curators Forum. It is within the context of this exhibition that we will collectively revisit these two texts by Stuart Hall.
Modernity and Its Others considers how to write the histories of non-Western societies in relation to modernity. The three ‘moments’ that Hall explores in this essay are the ‘Last colonials’ who are born in 1920s-30s (a generation which Hall is a part of), the first generation of British-born diasporic artists from 1950s-70s, and a third undisclosed ‘moment’, which we will consider together.
Written 22 years prior to Modernity and Its Others, in Reconstruction Work Hall looks at a moment of historical rupture – the beginning of mass migration from the colonies to the metropole, London. He recognises the role of photography in the documentation of these journeys and the societal shifts that accompanied them. His provocations and warnings about such “explosive little ‘documents’” will help us consider how we might engage with such records through our work today.
The Shifting the Centre reading groups aim to open up a space for collective study to consider the ways in which critical texts can act as important analytical tools for addressing the urgent political realities we are currently navigating.
Those who register for this reading group will be sent the texts via email, in a read-only format.
The reading group is a collaboration between International Curators Forum, Stuart Hall Foundation and The Photographers’ Gallery.
__________________________________________________
About the Ten.8 in Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics exhibition
This exhibition celebrates the renowned photography journal Ten.8 and its wider influence. It brings into focus two editions of Ten.8, Black Image (1984) and Body Politics (1987), by activating this rich history through text, design and archival material. Using these two issues as a departure point, this exhibition aims to open up a wider conversation about the legacy of Ten.8 and its exploration of the photographic medium.
Ten.8 In Focus: The legacy of Black Image and Body Politics offers a snapshot of the dynamic and multifaceted ways in which Ten.8 explored ideas around power, representation, race and photography. This examination of the journals demonstrates how pivotal and ahead of its time Ten.8 was during the 1980s and considers the ongoing relevance of these texts and images.
The exhibition is a collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery and ICF and is curated by Ten.8 editors Derek Bishton and Darryl Georgiou. Exhibition design is by Darryl Daley.
The exhibition runs from 9 October 2024 to 23 February 2025.
Read More
About the Shifting the Centre project
Shifting the Centre is International Curators Forum’s archival activation project dedicated to excavating the radical observations, emancipatory dreams, and revolutionary practices of anticolonial thinkers to develop counter approaches by asking: what kinds of ideas emerge when those resisting dominant forces are the protagonists of world history?
The project explores connections between seemingly unrelated events, people, issues and objects as a way of rejecting a single vantage point from which to understand, tell and mobilise histories. Ultimately, the project advances a curatorial approach that seeks to widen all that dominant forces attempt to narrow: our vision, imagination, and the political possibilities available to us. Shifting the Centre forms part of ICF’s Systems Reclaimed project, which aims to create a platform for creative practitioners to highlight and interrogate specific manifestations of systemic inequality both within and beyond the arts.
Read MoreDates:
5 Nov 2024
Location:
The Photographers' Gallery
